


School Spirit

by cherrybombtriestowrite



Category: GOT7
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, M/M, Multi, college humor - Freeform, imaginary ivy school, it's not an actual frat but these boys stick together i guess? and party, the ships aren't immediate they'll slowly unravel, this is a semi-frat fic, this is mostly an ot7 friendship appreciation fic ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2016-07-22
Packaged: 2018-07-12 01:33:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,406
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7079155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cherrybombtriestowrite/pseuds/cherrybombtriestowrite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>It's college. What could be a better way to wisely spend the 4 years stuck in there than to create a brotherhood you can party with, right? Or at least that is what these 7 boys thought when they decided to create a pseudo-frat and live under the same roof. To be brothers.</p><p>or the GOT7 (not really) frat AU nobody asked for</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Innocent Beginnings

**Author's Note:**

> Title based on Kanye's School Spirit because why not.
> 
> I have been writing for some time but this is the very first fic I've ever posted, so do be kind and send me reviews of it and how it could probably be fixed or wtvr. This idea has been sitting at the back of my mind for months and I just /really/ needed to write this down. 
> 
> This first chapter is mainly focused on the two new freshmen, Yugyeom and Bambam (and a glimpse of Youngjae) but don't fret - the other members will appear in the next chapter! Enjoy this v v v short first chapter for now :)

Yugyeom is ready. Yugyeom is excited, but also scared. Kim Yugyeom is now a university freshman.

“390, 390, 390.” Yugyeom mumbles to himself. He walks down the 3rd floor corridor of the Dudley House, twirling his room keys and checking the number on the doors he passes. He stops in front of the brown door with ‘390′ on it. “Right. This is it.”

Before he could do the honors of unlocking the door to his home for the next 4 years, the door violently opens from the inside, making him jerk backwards at the thought of a poltergeist messing around. Turns out, it isn’t a demon but instead a 5′9″ boy with black hair. Yugyeom does a quick scan of the boy before him and his eyes lands on a pair of shiny black boots. He compares it to the humble old Nikes he’s wearing. 

“Oh? Are you– is this your room too? Are you my roommate?” The other boy asks, eager as ever. “Are you a sophomore? A transfer?”

Yugyeom smiles at the amount of questions this boy has for him. He puts his luggage aside and puts a hand out. “I’m Kim Yugyeom and uh, yeah, I got this room too. Freshman.”

Instead of shaking Yugyeom’s hand, the other boy gives it a bro grip and gives him a hug. “What’s up? God, you’re tall. Could’ve fooled me. Anyways- my name is Kunpimook Bhuwakul.”

Yugyeom blinks a few times before asking, “I’m sorry?” 

“Just call me Bambam, it’s fine. I knew it’ll come to this.” Bambam sighs and waves a hand. He walks in and heads for the bed on the right where his things are already laid out on. 

Yugyeom follows suit and walks in with his luggage towards the left bed. “No, really. What’s your name again? Where are you from?” 

“Kunpimook Bhuwakul. Kunpimook. Bhuwakul. I’m from Bangkok, Thailand.” Bambam says and holds up a peace sign. “Represent.”

After about 30 seconds of Yugyeom attempting to say his name with the right pronunciation, Bambam sighs and shakes his head. “Just call me Bambam, man.”

“What kind of name is Bambam?”

“Have you ever watched the Flinstones?” Yugyeom shakes his head and Bambam sighs yet again. “Nevermind. Are you Korean?”

Yugyeom nods and plops down on his bed. He watches as Bambam arranges his wide array of clothes before putting them in the closet. He notices the carefully arranged row of shoes - which consists mainly of boots - at the end of his bed. Yugyeom wonders if only 3 sneakers (one for dance, one for college, one as a nicer selection for finer things in life, he decides) were enough for college...or this boy has some serious shoe issue.

“Hey, have you made any friends so far?” Bambam asks, throwing a bar of Mars at him as, Yugyeom assumes, a housewarming gift or something.

“We literally just arrived on campus, though.” 

“Yeah, but it’s never too early man. I made one already. He’s in his Junior year and he’s so cool.”

Yugyeom raises his eyebrows in awe. “Seriously? Was he one of the orientation volunteers?” 

“Nah, man. He was just passing by when I accidentally spilled a cup of caramel macchiato on him.” Bambam laughs, clutching his own stomach. “He was so pissed!”

“Wait, you spilled coffee on him and he got pissed but now he’s your friend? Or are you reading it wrongly?”

“Well, I mean, I had the coffee in one hand and my luggage in the other and, like, 5 other bags. The moment he saw me he must’ve known I was new and his pissed expression dropped.” Bambam explains and lies down on his bed. “He asked if I was a freshman and if I knew where I was going. He took off his drenched sweater, leaving his tank top on and showed me the way here! What a guy.”

Staring at Bambam with awe, Yugyeom kind of wishes he had met someone like that. “How nice.”

“Yeah…I had a feeling he was okay with it because he was totally fine with baring his biceps for the world to see.” Bambam scrunches up his eyebrows and thinks about it. “Anyways, he said his name is Jackson. Jackson Wang. He had a huge ass ‘WANG’ on his cap, too. As if anyone could’ve missed that.”

“Jackson Wang.” Yugyeom mumbles under his breath. 

“I’ll introduce you to him when we meet again! It’s not a small campus but I’m sure we’ll see him somehow.” Bambam remarks and smiles. Yugyeom nods with a bright grin on his face. As he watches him roommate tap away on his phone on the bed, Yugyeom finds himself smiling. 

_Un-boring roommate, check._

 

~~xxxxx~~

 

_Orientation went by just like that, leaving Yugyeom wondering if his choice of school was right. Everything just seems so boring, unlike the college life he's got in mind. His roommate, on the other hand, has been setting out a game plan to 'do college the right way if you know what I mean' the whole time. When faced with Yugyeom's negativity, Bambam could only laugh. "This is just the orientation. We'll get to the real stuff soon."_

_Is this grey sweatshirt and black skinnies a little too simple? Am I underdressed? How does one dress to a college party?_  Yugyeom keeps on asking these questions to himself. Bambam spent half an hour deliberating on what to wear until he decided on a sukajan jacket and yet another pair of boots. Yugyeom only took 10 minutes, including the time taken to dress up and stare at his twitter timeline. After realizing that he'll never be satisfied with his outfit, Bambam drags Yugyeom out to the party awaiting them.

They’re standing in the middle of a crowd of people at a party. It’s not exactly a party as much as it’s a little mixer for the new batch of freshmen. It’s the last day of the 4-day orientation and this party was thrown for them to get to know each other. Or something like that. 

“This kind of sucks. It doesn’t even look like a college party.” Yugyeom says to Bambam, who’s texting with one hand and a red solo cup of soda in the other. 

“Okay, first of all, this doesn’t count as a college party. Second of all, we literally just arrived 10 minutes ago.” Bambam replies, occupied with his phone. “Don’t you want to make friends with someone else other than me?”

 _Not really_ , Yugyeom thought. “I’ll try to see if I can score some booze I saw the seniors drinking.”

“’atta boy. Make use of that height you’re gifted with.” Bambam says with a tap on his back before leaving to walk into the crowd.

Yugyeom puts on his best I-am-definitely-already-21-of-age face and walks towards the area of older students drinking beer while conversing on, Yugyeom assumes, adult things. He wonders if he should just grab one of the beer bottles on the counter top beside them unassumingly or try to join in the conversation to assure them that he’s not a freshman. He’s not confident with both the options he came up with. 

A boy about Bambam’s height is drinking, but he’s at the edge of the senior crowd and not even attempting to join the conversation. He looks bored out of his mind but he seems to enjoy that bottle of beer. Yugyeom approaches him. 

“You a senior?” Yugyeom mentally slaps his own forehead for that. 

The guy, who’s dressed only in a t-shirt and bermuda pants, turns to look at him. “Uh…no. I’m a sophomore.”

“Oh.” Yugyeom could only answer. He scratches the back of his neck and racks his brain for a topic to talk about. His eyes then almost immediately lands on the boy's t-shirt, a plain black one with greek letters on it. "You, uh, you in a frat?"

The boy looks at his shirt and lets out a dorky laugh. "Oh, right. I keep on forgetting I'm wearing this shirt. It's not a frat, no. Or at least I think it isn't...anyways, Gamma Omega Tau, represent." The boy drags out the last word, attempting to throw a gang sign of sorts.

"Oh, okay..." Yugyeom mutters, wondering if maybe this boy has had one too many drinks.

“You want one?” The boy asks, waving his beer at his face. Yugyeom smiles at the turn of events and nods. The guy grabs a bottle and passes it to him. He continues to drink his and assesses the crowd.

“So, uh, what’s your name?” Yugyeom asks, taking a swig of the drink and mentally congratulates himself for this.

“Youngjae. Choi Youngjae.” Youngjae says and laughs to himself, a rather loud one at that. Yugyeom laughs along awkwardly and nods. _Why does this guy find everything so amusing?_

“I’m Yugyeom.” Yugyeom says and Youngjae nods. After seeing that this conversation - or lack thereof - is going nowhere, Yugyeom slowly tries to dissipate into the crowd with that bottle of beer in his hand. Not that Youngjae cares.

As he joins the crowd of freshmen again, Yugyeom wanders in search of his roommate. He groans at his unfruitful search until he feels his phone vibrate in the pocket of his jeans. “Hello?”

“Yugie! Come outside. Right now, hurry!” Bambam shouts over the phone and hangs up. Yugyeom sighs (out of relief) and hurries outside where he would finally be free from these sweating, eager bodies. 

The moment he steps outside the small space, he searches for Bambam and sees him standing alone in the night with his phone in his hand. He walks over to him and flashes the bottle of beer. “Guess who succeeded?”

“Good for you, Yugie. Good for you.” Bambam mutters, still texting.

“Who are you texting, anyway? You've been texting the whole night. And why are we outside?”

“Okay, so I have great news.” Bambam starts and finally puts his phone back in his pocket. “We can ditch this party, bro. I’ve been texting Jackson about what a drag this freshman party is and he said maybe I should come to his party.”

“That’s cool! When is it?” Yugyeom asks, excited to finally go to an actual college party.

“Right now!” Bambam exclaims and starts walking towards god knows where.

“Wait, seriously?” Yugyeom asks as he follows his roommate anyway.

_Boy, is this going to be a long night._


	2. Is This What It's Like

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Yugyeom follows Bambam to a /proper/ college party and sees a lot of new faces.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here are the rest of the group!
> 
> Enjoy xx

Yugyeom is lying if he says he’s not nervous. His palms are sweating. Not just because they had to walk what felt like a mile until they reached the venue, but also because his wish is coming true. His silent  _I wish I was at a real college party_  is actually coming true - way too fast. They’re already in front of the door to an average suburban house and the faint thump of music bass can be heard.  _What kind of guy is Jackson? What if he only intended to invite Bambam? Do I look lame right now?_

“Can you, like, think quietly?” Bambam asks, laughing. Yugyeom laughs along and wipes his palms on his jeans. They wait for the door to open and Yugyeom looks down the road they came from. As they walked towards the place just now, he notices how he's passed at least 3 houses decked with drunk college kids and blaring loud music.Yugyeom tells himself that if he gets kicked out of Jackson’s party maybe he can wander into that open party down the road. 

Just then, the door before them opens to reveal a well built guy with a snapback on backwards. The guy shouts a friendly “AYE” and hugs Bambam like he hasn’t seen him in years. Yugyeom awkwardly backs away a little to give space to this reunion.

“Jackson, this is my roommate, Yugyeom.” Bambam introduces. He pulls Yugyeom towards Jackson who looks up at the towering boy.

“Wait, why is he so tall?” Jackson asks Bambam jokingly and gives Yugyeom a side hug. He walks back in the room and invites them in with him, “Come on in! You guys are the only freshmen I invited. I thought twice about it but Bambam’s like a little brother to me so I thought - why not.”

Yugyeom whispers to Bambam, “I thought you guys’ve only met.”

“He’s a friendly guy, okay? I don’t know.” Bambam dismisses him.

As the roommates follow the guy with ‘852′ written across the back of his shirt, they stare in awe at how much cooler this party is. There are a bunch of guys in front of a TV playing some console game, while a girl is making out with another girl behind the couch. A bearded guy is explaining to his friend how his homemade bong works. Someone is standing by herself eating Cheetos by the wall. Yugyeom and Bambam wonder if all this is a common sight.

“Help yourselves to anything, really. I don’t mind if you guys want to drink, since this guy is ahead of himself anyways.” Jackson says and points at Yugyeom’s beer. “Just don’t break anything and make a mess.”

Laughing nervously, Yugyeom finishes the last few drops left in the bottle. He tries to groove to the song but it’s some deep trap music he doesn’t usually dance to. He then gets tugged towards the kitchen by Bambam. Jackson is dragging Bambam with his arm slinked around the younger’s shoulder, talking his ears off. He's going on about something regarding how lucky he is to have this house. They stop once they’re in the kitchen where a sizable crowd is gathered in. Jackson pulls someone out of the crowd by the neck and pulls him towards the freshmen.

“Tuan Yi En!” Jackson exclaims and laughs a high pitched shriek that resembles some kind of prehistoric creature Yugyeom saw in a movie once. Jackson turns towards the freshmen with his friend beside him, introducing him, “This is my roommate, silent partner, future business tycoon, Mark Tuan. Mark, this is Bambam. And his roommate…”

“Yugyeom.” Bambam finishes for Jackson. Yugyeom would’ve done it himself if he isn't too busy gawking at Mark. He is so…handsome? He is a little shorter than Yugyeom and - strikingly but befittingly - has ashy blonde hair that looks pink under this light. That black sweater he has on seems too big for his small frame but he pulls it off all too well. Yugyeom's eyes goes from Mark's shoes right up to his face, where the both of them lock eyes for a while.

“Ah, the freshmen you were talking about?” Mark asks Jackson. Instead of a big hug like Jackson, Mark greets them with only a nod and a smile. Even so, it’s enough to make Yugyeom want to crawl into a hole. “You’re a freshman too?”

It takes Yugyeom a few seconds to process the fact that Mark was referring to him. He laughs shyly and scratches his hair. “Yeah, pretty sure I am.”

Mark grins brightly at how Yugyeom suddenly appears his age when he smiles like that. He walks over to Yugyeom and pinches the younger’s cheeks while scrunching up his own nose. Yugyeom’s face turns redder than a tomato as he shrinks under Mark’s touch. Mark then taps his shoulder and walks away towards a new crowd. _Is that guy even real? Wow._ Trying to rid off the blush, Yugyeom continues to follow Bambam as Jackson tries to introduce them to more people. 

“Jinyoung. Nyoungie!” Jackson pulls the hand of yet another guy. This time the guy has casually styled black hair and a white dress shirt on. He was pulled away mid conversation where he was having a laugh, flashing the most adorable eye whiskers and smile. 

“What is it, Jackson?” Jinyoung asks, mildly annoyed but mostly just curious. 

“I just wanted you to meet my new friends. They’re so cute.” Jackson motions at Bambam and Yugyeom who are both trying their best to not look like sticks in a mud. 

Before Jackson could say their names, another guy joins them and whispers something to Jackson. He has dark auburn hair and a leather jacket, giving him a dark look. Jackson is about to walk away with the guy but stops momentarily to remind the boys, “Have fun, alright? Don’t get too wasted, though.” 

 _Did we just arrived at this party to get ditched?_ Yugyeom thinks. He looks at Bambam, who reads his face and shrugs. Bambam and Yugyeom both nod dutifully before turning back to look at Jinyoung. Bambam greets him, “I’m Bambam and he’s Yugyeom.” 

Jinyoung analyzes them for a while with hawk eyes, nodding slowly. He asks, “Oh, aren’t you guys supposed to be at the freshman party?”

“We were there, but it was boring.” Bambam answers. “And then Jackson texted me about his party, so…”

“Jumped straight to Jackson’s party and skipping the lame freshman ones, huh?” Jinyoung remarks, laughing and giving a congratulatory pat on their shoulders. “Anyways, hope to see you guys around soon.”

Seeing Jinyoung walk away towards the group of people behind them, Yugyeom remarks, “He doesn’t look like he wants to see us around.” 

"I heard that!" Jinyoung calls out from where he's walking, making Yugyeom almost choke on air. He adds, "Also, I'm one of the people who live here so don't make too much of a mess."

With Jinyoung gone, Bambam sighs and looks around. “What a crowd, huh?”

Yugyeom could only nod, looking around as well. It is a very nice house, small but surely enough for a few college boys who throws mild parties like this.

“I mean, there’s only one thing left to do.” Bambam remarks, cracking his knuckles all of a sudden and cracking his neck with a popping sound Yugyeom has yet to get accustomed to. “Let’s get wasted.”

“Ah, but, Jackson said–” Yugyeom couldn’t even finish his sentence and Bambam is already chugging down on a bottle of beer he grabbed from the counter top.

"Oh my god, Yugyeom." Bambam softly says, his eyes drifting across the kitchen. On a counter top he's staring at with starry eyes are an array of drinks ranging from beers to the hard stuff.

_I’m not going to start my college experience getting wasted at a random party, am I?_

~~_xxxxx_ ~~

“What’s this? You’ve got new roommates?” 

"Turn off the TV, please. It's too loud."

Yugyeom wakes up first, peeling his eyes open as he tries to suppress the headache he’s having right now. He groans at the pain and attempts to sit up but the weight of the world is honestly crushing him right now.

“Jackson-ah, where are the garbage bags?”

"Can you guys help us out a little?"

The voices speaking in the room are really unhelpful because Yugyeom really feels like hitting a wall. He squints to see who’s making a big fuss and sees a few people walking about the room. It looks a lot like Jackson’s place. It is Jackson's place. He is still at Jackson’s.

“Why are you guys so noisy? Let them sleep.” Jackson’s familiar voice scolds. Yugyeom looks up to see Jackson in a tank top and sweatpants with a broom in one hand. He looks at the newly awaken Yugyeom and smiles. “Good afternoon Yeomie!”

 _Yeomie? What the fuck…_  Yugyeom thinks to himself as he weakly smiles at the - he had just realized that this is his first time seeing Jackson’s hair since last night - blonde boy. Looking to his side, Yugyeom sees Bambam sprawled like a starfish with his fashion icon image thrown out the window. He’s got…lipstick marks all over his face?

“This guy…” Yugyeom mutters. They have been sleeping on the floor of the living room and now that he is finally truly awake, he sees Jackson sweeping up the place. Two other guys are on the couch, talking. One of them is Jinyoung and the other is the dark haired guy from last night as well. 

“OH MY GOD.” Bambam suddenly exclaims out of absolutely nowhere, jerking awake with a lost look on his face. “Where am I? Are we at Jackson’s? Where’s my jacket?”

A lanky guy approaches them and Yugyeom recognizes him as Mark, who's carrying a garbage bag in one hand. “Hey, Yugyeom.” Mark says. Yugyeom is sure it’s a greeting, ready to reply him, until Mark points at something behind him. “Can you throw the empty cans at me?”

Yugyeom plays his good boy card and stands up to pick the trash up and puts them in the garbage bag. He ends up walking around the place with Mark trailing behind him with the garbage bag. They work in silence, picking up food wrappers and empty bottles  while also rearranging furniture that are out of line. It's too early for Yugyeom to do shit like this, but he does it anyway for god know's why.

Bambam still sits on the floor, dazed. He runs a hand through his hair and stands up. He holds on to the wall next to him as vertigo hits him. His face contorts into a pained expression as he tries to recall what he drank the night before from the tastes still lingering on his tongue.

“You know, you handled your drinks better than I expected you to.” Jackson remarks, laughing and patting his shoulder. Bambam’s lips quiver as they form into the fakest smile he can muster. "I thought you'd have surely get knocked out after that third round of shots. I think you drank some seniors under the table, bro!"

“Is he the one who couldn’t stop dancing after his 5th bottle?” The dark haired guy asks. Bambam stares at him with regret in his eyes. He laughs. "Don't worry, I've got your rendition of the Running Man recorded and saved."

Mark and Yugyeom return back to the TV area with a bag full of trash, a satisfied look on their faces. It’s not a big place, but it sure as hell was trashed. Yugyeom nudges his roommate. Bambam swats his hand away and groans. “I know, I know. I'm never drinking again.”

Jackson puts the broom away and stretches. He looks at the time and suggests what everyone wanted to hear, “Who’s up for brunch?”

The 5 other boys in the room immediately put up their hands, eager for food. Jinyoung hits Jackson’s arm and says, “What brunch nonsense are you talking about? It’s damn well lunch right now.”

 

As animated as possible, Jackson exclaims, “Let’s go then!”


	3. Family Business

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 7 boys eating burgers and talking a little too loud.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole family's here! This is just a whole lot of talking. Enjoy and leave a comment or kudos or wtvr if ya like it xx

Yugyeom and Bambam aren't sure how this happened, but they're with these 4 guys they've just met, sitting together at a burger place 10 minutes from their campus, as per requested by Mark.  _I swear they’re the best I’ve ever had_ , he said. But he only managed to convince the rest when he suggested,  _I’ll pay for it, okay?_  Jackson didn’t think much and drove them there.

Yugyeom lets out a big yawn and Bambam hits him in the chest, muttering something along the lines of  _shut up you tree_. Yugyeom is about to hit him back until he sees a familiar face approaching their round table of 6. Yugyeom knows barely anyone here aside from the people at the table right now. He doesn’t even know who the dark haired guy is.

“What’s up?” The familiar face greets no one in particular. Mark scoots to the side for him to sit. Before sitting down, the boy looks at Yugyeom and raises his eyebrows. “Ah! I met you last night, right?”

Yugyeom slowly nods, racking his brain for a name to match the face. _Brian? Jooyoung? Shit, what's his name?_ Jackson whispers loudly for Yugyeom (and everyone else at the table) to hear,  _YOUNGJAE_. Yugyeom nods more enthusiastically and exclaims, “Right, Youngjae!”

“Are you Jackson’s friend?” Youngjae asks.

Before Yugyeom could explain himself, Jackson takes the metaphorical mic and does it for him. He goes on a long story telling time that dates back to when Bambam spilled coffee on him, right up to this morning when Bambam wakes up with lipstick marks on his face. Upon hearing the newly discovered fact that he has lipstick marks all over his face, Bambam immediately touches his face.

“What?! Where, where?” Bambam asks, taking out his phone. He opens the front camera and stares at his face. What seemed to be a shocked face slowly morphs into a pleased face. “Not bad, not bad.”

Jackson and Jinyoung are both stifling their laughs, looking elsewhere. Bambam notices them and asks, “…why?”

“Nothing.” Jinyoung replies with a sweet smile on his face. He passes a napkin to Bambam who tries to wipe off the long lasting Makeup Forever red lipstick marks. 

A waitress appears and takes their order, where the group unanimously lets Mark do the ordering since he loves the burgers so much. The oldest boy lets out a big grin after the waitress leaves, excited for his burger. It's as if his face just screams _I LOVE BURGERS, Y'ALL._

Putting his phone down and leaning back, Bambam sighs as he continues to rub his now red and irritated skin. He looks at Yugyeom who’s slowly dozing off in his seat. Next to him is Mark, who he only knows as Jackson’s roommate. He seems cool enough, if not amazingly quiet unless he was talking about food.  _Does he not own anything in the right size?_  Bambam thinks, as he assesses the basketball jersey he has on. Next to Mark is Youngjae who Bambam is seeing for the first time. He’s dressed like a 15 year old, what with the graphic tee and bermuda pants. Youngjae has nice hair, though. It’s probably bed hair but it looks really well styled. 

“Who’s that next to Youngjae?” Bambam whispers to Jackson who’s handling his hangover way better than he is.

Not looking away from his phone, Jackson answers, “Jaebum. Senior.” 

Bambam nods and looks back at the auburn haired guy. He has sunglasses on indoors and an XL t-shirt with a frame from the movie Pulp Fiction on it.  _Possible douche_ , Bambam notes. Next to Jaebum is Jinyoung who looks exhausted and hungover but has been chuckling every time he looks at Bambam. Jinyoung has black hair and a soft cardigan on, looking the most proper among the seven of them. 

Snapping him out of his people watching, Jinyoung asks, “Is your name really Bambam or…?”

Laughing, Bambam answers, “Of course not. I'm Thai so I've got a long name that no one has been able to pronounce it without butchering the hell out of it yet.”

Nodding, Jinyoung continues his series of questions. “So, freshman, right? What are you planning to major in?”

With much confidence, the Thai boy smugly says, “Fashion.”

Jaebum, who has been silent since they arrived, suddenly looks up with interest. “Really? Wow, you decide fast.”

“Hyung,” Jinyoung starts, “just because you took 2 years to decide doesn’t mean everyone is as indecisive.”

Jackson laughs at that and softly hits Jinyoung on the chest. “That’s mean.”Jackson then looks up to see Jaebum’s reaction, but the guy still has his sunglasses on, masking any form of emotions he might have. Jackson then asks what Bambam has been wandering as well, “And why are you wearing shades indoors?”

Jaebum takes his sunglasses off as if he just got dared to. His eyes look like they’ve seen hell - which is what he gets for drinking recklessly - and Jinyoung smiles knowing that he doesn’t have the worst hangover this time. Jaebum sighs, “You’re acting like you’ve never seen me hungover.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that,” Jackson waves his hand at Jaebum. “I’ve seen enough of it. Remember when you threw your phone at me when all I did was ask what you wanted for breakfast?”

Jaebum lets out a small laugh and it is one of the nicest smiles Bambam has seen, he realizes. He makes a mental note to try and make Jaebum look less intimidating and smile more. Throwing a small packet of sugar half-heartedly across the table towards his blonde friend, Jaebum defends himself, “Yeah, but I missed and cracked my screen so we’re even.”

“I still made you breakfast!” Jackson exclaims back, getting a little agitated but with a big smile still plastered on his face.

“All you did was pour cereal for me!” Jaebum retorts, laughing harder. His laugh is cut short when he suddenly cringes in an all too sudden shift in mood and puts his sunglasses back on. “Jackson, seriously, it’s too early for this.”

As if apologizing for his friend, Jackson turns to Bambam and says, “This guy has some issues but he’s cool otherwise so don’t worry.”

“I never said anything, though.” Bambam says.

"What about Yugyeomie?" Jinyoung asks, leaning forward to ask the tall boy. Everyone turns to hear the answer only to be met with a sleeping Yugyeom. With his head hanging low and his mouth slightly open, he is peacefully drifting towards dream land. Jinyoung stifles back a laughter and grabs the sugar packet Jaebum threw earlier, eagerly standing up and leaning forwards as close as he can to Yugyeom. He softly flicks Yugyeom's nose with the edges of the packet, making the younger boy scrunch his eyebrows in annoyance. 

"What the hell..." Yugyeom says, lifting his head up to see 6 amused boys staring back at him. He looks at Jinyoung who's back at his seat acting like he did nothing and softly mutters, "Ah...seriously..."

"I was asking you what I asked Bambam; what are you planning to major in?" Jinyoung repeats himself, throwing the sugar packet under the table.

Yugyeom gulps at the question, shriveling like a wilted flower under the gaze of these 6 guys. "I...I'm still thinking about it, I guess. Dance, communications, I don't know. We'll see."

"Dancing?" Mark and Jinyoung ask simultaneously, amazed. Mark nods and says, "Cool, cool."

"Take your time figuring things out, Yugyeom. I mean, we know Jaebum did and he's still doing good." Jackson kindly says, earning another packet of sugar thrown at him.

A couple of waitresses walks over to their table with 7 plates of burgers and sodas. Jaebum takes his sunglasses off and groans an 'oh yes' at the sight of his burger, joined by Mark who has a hopeful glint in his eyes as he says, 'yes yes yes'. The older boys bite into their burgers, letting out questionable moans as the burgers surprise them with its bacon and barbecue sauce goodness. Yugyeom and Bambam look at each other before agreeing on eating the burger together. While everyone's having a religious experience with the burgers, one of them is still staring at the burger.

"Jackson, aren't you eating your burger? It's seriously out of this world." Bambam asks, wondering why the blonde boy is not eating that work of art.

Sighing, Jackson puts the burger down and prepares an explanation. "Fencing season is coming up soon. I kinda let myself go during the summer so I've got to buck up, man. If this body--"

Jaebum cuts his friend off with a loud groan and pushes Jackson's plate towards him. "This is one burger, Jackson. One burger with your bros before classes start and then you can start your stupid diet."

"Honestly, I can't tell you've let yourself go. I'm pretty sure your biceps are on the way to being bigger than my face." Jinyoung comments, eating another bite of the burger.

As if on cue, the rest of the boys start throwing compliments at him, making him close his eyes in annoyance. "Alright, alright. I'll eat the damn burger. Geez." He picks up the burger oozing with brown sauce and takes a bite of it. He lets out the loudest moan in the restaurant, making a few people at the adjacent tables turn to look for the source of the obscene noise. Jinyoung quickly shuts him up by pushing him and laughing at his embarrassing friend.

"Ah, Youngjae," Jaebum suddenly starts, a thought appearing in his mind. "Why weren't you at the party last night? You didn't come home either."

Swallowing the big chunk of burger he just bit into, Youngjae answers, "I was at the freshman party. Some of my friends in Commander Strike helping out with the orientation said they had free booze and were recruiting more people into the club." 

" _We_ had free booze, too. Shit, it's at our own place too. You didn't have to go all the way there." Mark scoffs, laughing at Youngjae's logic. 

"Are you guys still trying to get all the gamers on campus to join the club?" Jackson asks, holding back a smile. "And how many have you got so far, about 8 guys?"

Youngjae groans and gets defensive, "We're making a lot of progress, you know. A lot of the freshman guys game, believe it or not."

"You still think the college is gonna make Commander Strike into an official club? Why would they want a club with nothing but a bunch of guys gaming, eating pizza, and chugging down Mountain Dew?" Jaebum asks, his tone evolving into what Yugyeom recognizes as the Dad Voice™.

Instead of rolling his eyes or groaning, as what Yugyeom would've done, Youngjae laughs and hits Jaebum's arm. "We are a community! Don't diss us like that, this is our lifestyle." 

"Wait." Bambam interrupts them. Trying to piece the information he's gotten so far together, Bambam puts his burger down and clears his throat. "So...do you guys all live together?"

The 5 boys nod in sync, with Jinyoung excitedly leaning forward with a smile on his face. "Yeah, we're the Gamma Omega Tau house."

"Oh, the frat on Youngjae's shirt last night!" Yugyeom points out, remembering the Greek letters he saw, though he absolutely cannot name the alphabets. "So you guys _are_ a frat."

Jackson lets out a high pitched laugh at the mention of the frat and Jaebum puts his head in his hand. Mark, with an amused face, helps clarify things as he sees how lost Yugyeom and Bambam both look. "We're not a frat. I mean...there's only 5 of us. The name's just a joke, really. We wanted to make fun of the frats here, is all. The shirt you saw was something Youngjae picked up at the thrift store and we decided to name our house Gamma Omega Tau."

"Make fun of the frats? Why?" Bambam asks, still munching on the burger.

Jackson holds out a hand and motions towards a distressed looking Jaebum. "Will the president of Gamma Omega Tau care to explain?"

"Fuck you." Jaebum says to Jackson with a soft smile on his face. "And no, I don't feel like talking about that shit right now."

"That's too bad, then. We'll save the story time for later, alright boys?" Jackson announces at the two boys still looking lost as ever. "It's a great story, but maybe some other time."

The boys at the table all start talking at once, voice overlapping each other and echoing throughout the restaurant filled with other students who look unfazed by this. Yugyeom and Bambam exchange glances amidst the noisy racket and the former offers a shrug. Bambam shrugs back and laughs. 

They decide they must've gotten lucky to be at this table.


	4. Revelations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bambam does some digging and is pleased with his discoveries.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> here, have a bunch of idol cameos because why not

“I can’t believe they made us walk home.” Yugyeom grunts, shielding his face from the sun with his hands. “Assholes.”

Bambam walks beside him with his face scrunched up over this heat. He sighs, “It’s not like they’re obliged to send us home, though. The car was full and their house is blocks away. Plus we kinda woke up at theirs and got free lunch, so…”

“Alright, alright, I get it.” Yugyeom waves his hand at Bambam’s face. They arrive in front of their residence hall and walk up with heavy steps, the hungover at 10% but still plaguing them nonetheless. As they pass by the rooms on their floor, a familiar voice stops them in their tracks.

“Bambam! Yugyeom!” A cheerful female voice exclaims from a room. They’re suddenly reminded of the fact that their residence hall is a co-ed one, still feeling shocked at seeing girls around here. The roommates stop to see the source of the voice and is greeted by Park Jimin, a friend they made during orientation. She cheerily makes her way to the door and stops when she sees the state they’re in. “Woah, someone had a little too much fun at the party last night.”

“W-we weren’t at the freshman mixer.” Yugyeom answers, stuttering for absolutely no reason.

“Oh, yeah. I mean I left early so I wouldn’t know. I decided to have an X-Files marathon instead.” Jimin laughs and turns to ask her roommate, a short-haired girl eating chocolate on her bed, “It was fun, right?”

Her roommate looks up with a mouthful of chocolate and stops chewing when she sees the two boys at the door. The boys remembers Jimin mentioning something about her sophomore year roommate who's Korean as well. She softly says, “…yeah.”

“Should I ask how you got that or would you like to enlighten me?” Jimin asks, referring to the lipstick marks all over Bambam’s face. Yugyeom starts laughing by himself, ignoring Bambam’s glare on him.

Bambam wipes his face and shows his spotless palm. He groans, “It won’t come off.”

Jimin sighs and turns to her roommate again. “Unnie, can I help Bambam get the lipstick marks off of him?”

Her roommate looks at her for a moment like she wishes she didn’t have to partake in this weird meet up. “Do whatever you want, I guess.”

Jimin pulls Bambam in, who ropes Yugyeom in as well into the small room for two. She reaches into the make up bag on the bedside table, pulling out a bottle of make up remover. Yugyeom sits on Jimin’s bed, looking at her roommate who is just staring at them, probably judging.

“So what happened to you guys?” Jimin asks, pushing Bambam to sit on her bed as she takes out some cotton pads.

“We were at another party. You know Jackson Wang?” Yugyeom answers excitedly, looking at Jimin and then at her roommate.

“Who’s that?” Jimin asks, putting some make up remover on the cotton pads. “Jeongyeon unnie, do you know a Jackson?”

Jeongyeon scoffs and nods, eating another one of her chocolates. “Who doesn’t know Jackson?”

“He was so awesome! We partied at his place and Bambam decided to get too excited–”

“Shut up, _you_ were the one who wanted to attend a _real_ college party so badly.”

Yugyeom dismisses his friend and continues, “Anyways, we woke up with the worst hangover this morning and the boys in that house took us out to lunch.”

Engrossed in the story, Jimin then wipes the marks off of Bambam’s face softly. “So I’m assuming you don’t remember who was kissing you, Bambam?”

As if she had just cracked the best joke of the century, Yugyeom starts laughing out loud, shocking Jeongyeon who’s trying to read her magazine in peace. Yugyeom tries to speak in between his giggles, “Oh…he knows…he knows who kissed him.”

Bambam groans loudly and pushes Yugyeom so hard he falls off the bed. “For god's sake-shut up, we were all drunk.”

“Jinyoung kissed him! You know Jinyoung?” Yugyeom exclaims, asking Jeongyeon as he tries to sit back on the bed. “He lives in that house, too.”

Jeongyeon nods yet again. “Yeah, he’s a year above me.”

Still recovering from the laughing fit and the fall, Yugyeom continues, “He woke up thinking some girl kissed him, but it turned out to be Jinyoung and some really long lasting lipstick.”

“Shut up, seriously. I am this close to kicking your ass.” Bambam warns, demonstrating how close he is to losing his shit with his hand.

“It’s a nice shade, though.” Jimin mutters, removing the marks more roughly now. “Is it Mac? Maybe it’s Nyx…”

“That’s lucky of you guys.” Jeongyeon suddenly voices out, still reading her magazine. “Those guys are a cool bunch.”

“So what’s their deal?” Bambam suddenly asks. “They call themselves Omega Alpha or whatever…but claim they aren’t a frat.”

“Huh? I don’t know anything about that.” Jeongyeon shrugs. “But I thought a few of them were in Kappa Delta Psi last year before I enrolled. Especially Im Jaebum, he had big things going on there. Not that I care.”

Jimin turns to look at her roommate with a knowing glance. “You seem to know a lot for someone who doesn’t care.”

“The Asian American community here isn’t that big, I can’t help but to know, okay?” Jeongyeon explains herself, looking almost offended. “Besides, that group of boys were hot topic and I was a freshman who wanted to know everything.”

“Jaebum was in a frat? With the other guys? What happened?” Bambam asks, eager to know since Jackson left them hanging with that story. “Other than Jackson, the rest don’t really look like frat boys…”

Jeongyeon tries to recall the stories she had heard about this. “I’m not sure, really. They looked a lot different last year. I heard that Jaebum left the frat and even quit the baseball team. The other guys kinda just followed him and they’ve been living together ever since.”

“So that explains the whole ‘making fun of frats’ thing…” Yugyeom tells Bambam, nudging him.

Jeongyeon, now engrossed in her story, continues, “I think Jinyoung and Youngjae are still in the soccer team…they’re really good. I hope Mark is still playing basketball, he’s a sight to watch.”

“What are you, their fanclub president?” Jimin asks, wiping off the last mark on Bambam’s neck. “Unnie, I think you’re a little obsessed.”

“No!” Jeongyeon exclaims, threatening to throw a pillow at her. “Half of my friends are in love with them, so I was naturally dragged to watch the games and go to their parties. The parties were gross but the games weren’t too bad.”

Yugyeom nods and ignores the ensuing questions by Jimin regarding whether the guys are cute and nice. He stares off into space as he tries to piece the stories together. He had noticed Jinyoung’s nice figure, thinking maybe the guy is just blessed, but as it turns out he’s a soccer player. He had thought Jackson played football, but the blonde boy was talking about fencing so that explains too. Youngjae now seems like every Korean teenager Yugyeom has ever met; plays soccer and games all day. His mind then drifts off trying to imagine Mark dribbling a basketball across the court, looking like a work of art. And Jaebum…is still a mystery. _Baseball? That is so random._ Yugyeom then jerks back into reality when Bambam slaps him lightly on the back.

“I feel so sticky…I need to bathe. Come on, man.” Bambam suggests, standing up. He turns to Jimin and her roommate and bows slightly. “Thanks for helping with all this. Sorry to intrude this girl zone.”

“Don’t call my room that.” Jimin warns, pushing him. “Now go, y'all stink.”

_xxxxx_

Bambam wishes he didn’t have to take this stupid class. _What does business have to do with fashion?_ He groans internally as the professor drones on about himself. He’s seated at least a mile away from the professor, a result of running late due to his inability to get ready in time. He writes a mental note to wake up at least an hour early. The thing is, his hair doesn’t style itself. His clothes don’t pick itself. He wishes he could just put on the nearest sweater and skinnies like Yugyeom does, but it pains him to see potential go to waste. So he chooses to suffer.

“I’ll expect text books ready by the next class so…that is all for today.” The professor announces. Bambam slings his bag across his shoulder, already standing up amongst the other freshmen who are still sitting down and talking to the people next to them. Bambam looks at the guy next to him, whose khakis just screams _computer science major._ Not that he has anything against computer science majors, he’s just against anything khaki. Simple as that. In fact, he spent the entirety of this class to scout the crowd. Scout for what? He doesn't really know. The story Jeongyeon had told about the frat really intrigued Bambam who wonders if he can spot any frat bros in the crowd. So far he has deduced that maybe frat bros don't study business. Or they dress suspiciously normal (no muscle tanks and such).

He exits the auditorium and takes out his phone to check his schedule. He’s got no classes left for the day, and it’s just in time for lunch. He sighs to himself, feeling slightly disappointed that his first day of class has been amazingly and horrendously uneventful so far. _Best 4 years of my life ...starting super slow, though._

His phone vibrates from a text message and he sees Yugyeom’s name along with 'I’m eating lunch with the guys from my intercomm class! i’m making friends aren’t you proud of me’. Bambam laughs at the text message and also at how the tables are turning. Now he’s alone and Yugyeom’s got company.

“Oh shit!” Bambam exclaims, bumping into a stone. He nearly trips but ends up awkwardly pulling on a guy’s shirt to regain stability. He stands back up properly and composes himself only to realize that he had bumped into a guy whose sweater he just yanked. The other guy has got to be 6 feet, not to mention his shoulders are broad enough to hide Bambam behind him. Bambam prepares himself to be flung across the football field at the sight of this man’s angry face.

“I’m sorry, I was on my phone.” The other guy unexpectedly says, bowing a little before bending down to pick up the books Bambam knocked down. Still a little shocked that it wasn’t him apologizing, Bambam decides to bend down as well and help the guy pick his books up.

“I–I was on my phone too. Sorry.” Bambam mutters, handing him the books. They stand up and the guy smiles at Bambam, his initially angry face suddenly morphed into something that resembles the sun. Bambam tries his best to smile back, his own cheesy grin nowhere near resembling the guy’s.

Trying to escape this awkward encounter, Bambam looks around and his eyes immediately lands on a lanky guy walking a few feet away him. He exclaims, “Hey Mark!”

Mark stops in his tracks and turns to look at Bambam who’s waving enthusiastically at him. He walks over to him, smiling. “Bambam! What’s up, my man?”

The guy Bambam had bumped into earlier turns to walk away and nearly bumps into Mark, almost knocking his books down again. The guy locks eyes with Mark with a look of familiarity. Mark is suddenly smiling nervously and stuttering, “A–ah, Shownu. What’s, uh, what’s up?”

“Nothing much, really. Just bumped into this little guy.” Shownu answers, gesturing at Bambam who doesn’t look too favorable upon being called 'little guy’. “Literally.”

“Oh,” Mark says and laughs nervously. “This is my friend, Bambam.”

Shownu gives a friendly nod at Bambam before excusing himself and walking away. Bambam watches as Shownu then greets another friend nearby and they walk together, even wearing the same sweater and everything. A sweater with a logo on it of some sort.

“If he had bumped into you hard, I think you would’ve been on your ass by now.” Mark jokes, snapping Bambam out of his stare.

“I almost fell on my butt, actually. But I embarrassingly grabbed his sweater to stand back up.” Bambam answers, rubbing his forehead. “He looked so scary I thought he was gonna jump me or something.”

“Nah, he’s a cool guy. One of the coolest.” Mark remarks, putting a hand around Bambam’s shoulder. He then clears his throat and asks, “Want to join me for lunch? I was planning to just eat alone but since you’re here…”

“Sure, man. Thanks.” Bambam smiles brightly. As they walk towards the sandwich store, Bambam goes deep into thought as he remembers something. The sweater Shownu was wearing had Greek letters on them. Something like K ΔΨ. He scrambles to grab the phone out of his pocket, making Mark step away from him a little. He ignores Mark’s concerned 'are you okay?’ and does a little Wikipedia search for Greek Letters.

“I…see.” Bambam mutters, his eyes reading the symbols. Kappa Delta Psi. Isn’t that the frat Jeongyeon had mentioned? His looks at Mark with eyes gleaming of revelation. Mark gives him a weird look before continuing to walk towards the sandwich shop faster.

_I'm getting closer to figuring you guys out._


	5. A Night in the House

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bambam and Yugyeom gets a taste of how living in the house feels like.

_The Sandwich is a pretty meta name for a sandwich shop_ , Bambam tells himself. Nevertheless, he walks alongside Mark into the shop and a satisfied smile forms on his lips as he smells the sweet aroma of good ol' sandwiches. As soon as he realizes that the line is about 10 people long, Bambam groans and points it out to Mark. Mark isn't looking though, his eyes focused on something else. Bambam follows his line of view, directed outside the shop, and spots none other than his roommate. And Jinyoung. Bambam mentally groans at the sight of the man who gave him the false hope of getting kissed by chicks at the party. Jinyoung is laughing heartily at something, clutching his stomach and everything, but Yugyeom is beside him with a scowl on his face.

"The line's too long. Let's go check on them." Mark suggests, already walking towards the door. Bambam is about to retort as the line before him is shortening, but he obediently follows Mark anyways. They exit the store and is instantly greeted with Yugyeom's whiny voice mixed with Jinyoung's deep laughter.

"What's up?" Mark greets, putting an arm around Jinyoung and smiling innocently.

"Just bugging our Yugyeomie here. For funsies." Jinyoung answers, slowly catching his breath from all that laughing.

"It's not funny, hyung!" Yugyeom whines, hitting Jinyoung's arm. He turns to Bambam and continues, "It's only my first day and he's already destroyed my rep!"

"Rep? What rep?" Jinyoung blurts and throws his head back laughing. Mark laughs along, the first time Bambam hears him laughing that loud. Jinyoung adds, "If anything, I just upgraded your rep, so you're welcome."

"What did Jinyoung do?" Bambam asks, feeling a little out of loop here.

"He came up to my friends and I while we were eating and started acting like I'm his fucking baby or something." Yugyeom complains and folds his arm. "He tousled my hair and pinched my cheeks and asked _if I ate well_. What are you, my mother?"

Jinyoung pouts and pinches Yugyeom's cheeks again, earning a swatting from the younger guy. He pretends to be shocked and continues laughing. Mark curiously asks, "What did your friends say?"

For a second, Yugyeom just rolls his eyes and looks elsewhere. He softly replies, "They asked if he's my boyfriend."

This time, all three of his friends burst out laughing, clinging onto each other as they revel at this hilarious story. Mark attempts to soothe his rage by saying, "It's okay, Yugyeom. Having the college's resident star actor as a boyfriend isn't so bad."

Yugyeom huffs and turns away, muttering, "No thanks." Bambam goes over to put a consoling arm on his friend’s shoulder. Yugyeom immediately starts ranting off about how cool this new group of friends he had made is and how Jinyoung managed to ruin his clean image with what he did. Bambam doesn’t really listen to what his friend has to say though as his focus diverts towards Mark who is discussing something with Jinyoung. Jinyoung asks Mark something about getting supplies for the hangout and Mark asks why they need a new poker set, prompting Jinyoung to remind him of the ‘pool incident’. Bambam gets engrossed with the conversation but immediately stops listening when he feels them looking at him.

“Hey maknaes.” Jinyoung calls out. “Are you guys free tomorrow night? Or will you guys be busy polishing your ‘rep’ with your new friends?”

“Tuesday night, we’d definitely have no plans.” Bambam replies while Yugyeom is busy sulking behind him. 

“Cool. We’re hanging out and shit, thought you guys might want to join.” Jinyoung says, smiling generously. Mark immediately nudges him, eyes giving out signals that Jinyoung immediately receives. “What? I’m sure Jaebum wouldn’t mind. These guys are so fun to poke at.”

Mark shrugs and looks at Bambam and Yugyeom’s eager faces, springing up from that request. He explains, “It’s nothing, really. Just some beers and games. Lots of drunken antics. That’s about it.”

“We’ll come. Sounds cool.” Yugyeom suddenly replies at the speed of light. Bambam rolls his eyes at how fast Yugyeom could get over something. He thinks it has something to do with Mark’s bright smile... Bambam shakes the thought away and nods in agreement to his roommate. 

Mark walks away with Jinyoung in tow, making Bambam pout at the lost of a lunch buddy. He turns to Yugyeom and asks, “You ate lunch?”

“Yeah, I flaked out early because of that Jinyoung thing.” He answers. He reads Bambam’s mind and offers, “Want me to sit with you while you eat?”

“What is this, elementary school?” Bambam laughs. “But yeah, that would actually be nice.”

 

~~xxxxx~~

 

Bambam, as per usual, has no idea what to wear, let alone what to bring. It plagued his mind throughout his lectures, and now that he’s in front of the familiar house, he is still wondering if this Hawaiian print shirt is appropriate. He looks over at Yugyeom in one of his many sweaters and sighs. He wishes this boy would dress for the weather and quit it with the sweaters. He notices how Yugyeom is fiddling with the six-pack (Yugyeom had earlier strolled into the liquor store and bought it like he’s been doing it for years) and smiles knowing that it isn’t weird to be nervous even though he’s met the boys of the house many times before. This invite feels especially special...because it isn’t a big party with everyone present. Bambam wonders if they’re the only outsiders invited. 

Yugyeom goes ahead and presses the door bell. They hear a bunch of boys bickering behind the door about getting the door before it opens and they’re greeted by a smiling Youngjae. He leaves the door open for the boys to close behind them, walking inside and shouting, “The freshmen are here!”

“I brought beer.” Yugyeom offers to no one in particular. Fair enough, seeing as everyone is scattered about the house. Mark is on the couch, mindlessly alternating between channels on the TV. Jinyoung comes out of the kitchen with nachos and dip to the table at the center of the room. Youngjae takes a nacho and gets hit but he eats it anyway. 

Noticing his favorite person in the house is missing, Bambam asks Youngjae, “Where’s Jackson?” Before Youngjae could answer, Bambam hears the sound of Jackson’s shrieking laughter followed by a deeper laugh from upstairs. 

“Is Jackson and Jaebum hyung not joining us tonight?” Youngjae asks Mark, still eating the nachos.

“Of course they are. Jackson is probably showing him a _Worldstarhiphop_ video. He’s obsessed with those lately.” Mark answers, eyes glued on the TV that’s showing a cop show. “And as usual Jaebum would think it’s the best thing ever.”

Bambam and Yugyeom pay no mind to the little conversation and goes ahead to sit at the table. Jinyoung comes back with bottles of beer but sighs when he sees the six pack on the table. The table is overflowing with beer and nachos, making Mark turn the TV off and join the rest at the table. Youngjae looks around the table and then at his housemates and asks, “Where’s the poker set?”

“It’s long gone, remember? I told Mark to buy a new one.” Jinyoung answers, looking at Mark with a look that says _you better have bought--_

“Yeah...about that.” Mark starts, sitting up. Jinyoung is already closing his eyes and sighing, waiting for the explanation. “I got carried away during the investors’ meeting. The new members were A class brats and I suddenly wished I wasn’t elected president--”

“You literally had one job. Just one.” Jinyoung puts up a finger, wiggling it at Mark. “It’s the first game night of the semester, what’re we supposed to do now?”

“Can we please play Monopoly?” Youngjae exclaims. He is supported by Bambam and Yugyeom’s rapid nodding, clearly exciting the younger ones. 

Jinyoung scoffs and reminds him, “You do know that we have a future Wolf of Wall Street in our presence and he sucks us dry at every Monopoly game.” Mark shrugs at this remark, knowing it’s true and he can’t possibly help the fact of it. 

Cutting the discussion short, Jackson walks downstairs with Jaebum in tow, still talking about whatever it was they were laughing about. The both of them stop in their tracks when they see Yugyeom and Bambam at the table.

“So...the freshmen are here?” Jaebum asks, taking a seat while cautiously eyeing them. 

Jackson sits beside him and softly hits his arm. “Hey, be nice.”

“Jinyoung invited us.” Yugyeom quickly defends himself, feeling a little scared of Jaebum’s wary gaze on them. 

Jaebum simply nods, accepting it coolly. He starts the night and says, “So. Poker. Let’s stay away from the pool this time and keep the damage to a minimum. Who’s got the cards?”

Bambam and Yugyeom both turn to look at Mark, Jinyoung, and Youngjae. The three of them sigh audibly before Youngjae stands up to walk towards what seems like the store under the stairs. He walks back out with a box of dusty Monopoly and puts it on the table. “We still do not have a poker set, so I guess it’ll have to be Monopoly.”

Running a hand through his blonde locks, Jackson leans back and exhales loudly. He shakes his head and says, “Shit will go down. It’ll be worse than poker. Hell, I’d rather play with an Ouija board right now.”

“It won’t be _that_ bad, Jackson ‘ _drama queen_ ’ Wang.” Mark laughs, taking the top off the box while Jinyoung moves the nachos so the board can be placed in the middle. 

Helping Jinyoung with the cards and such, Jackson leans forward and scolds, “Easy for you to say, Mr. Big Shot. You’ll annihilate us all as usual.”

"We're not in a hostile environment and we've got beer. It'll be fine." Mark tells him, making Jackson relax just a little bit.

Cracking open the first bottle, Jaebum drinks it and shrugs. He seems to not care about the change of plan and seems more fixated on the bowl of nachos instead. Once the board game is set, they all choose a token each and lean back to wait for the game to start. Jinyoung initiates it by opening a can of beer and putting it up. “So, to the first game night of the fall semester.”

The rest of the boys repeat what was said, shouting the words enthusiastically. They take a swig of the drink and Youngjae distributes the money. They then play rock, paper, scissors to see the order of the game. Bambam starts and nervously rolls the dice, silently praying for a 5. He gets a 3 and moves his token. Jaebum goes next and rolls the dice. He lands on the community chest and gets a ‘get out of jail’ card. He mutters a soft ‘ _handy_ ’ and the game proceeds with Mark rolling the dice. Landing on a property, he decides to already buy it. Everything is going smoothly. Jackson sighs at his friend’s tactical move and rolls the dice. He moves his token and it lands on Mark’s property, prompting him to exclaim, “I HATE YOU TUAN YI EN.”

Hearing Mark reply with, “Welcome to real life, Jackson.” Bambam leans back and takes a sip of his drink as he hears Jackson cracking his knuckles. _This is going to be a long night._

 

~~xxxxx~~

 

Bambam stopped drinking after his second and a half beer, reminding himself that he has a morning class tomorrow. Yugyeom did too, switching to a can of soda. Youngjae might be on his third, as is Jinyoung. Jinyoung had earlier threw nachos at the wall when he had to go to jail for the fifth time. Bambam looks over at the empty cans by Mark’s side and wonders how the boy is still able to plan economic strategies while drinking his fifth one, though his face is visibly red. Bambam then winces when his eyes lands on the side where Jaebum and Jackson are. The both of them had said earlier about having only one class in the afternoon, but Bambam lost count of how many they’ve had. They’re both giggling and sometimes randomly shouting way too loud when their token lands on a property. Jackson did a show of ‘making it rain’ with his money when he’s forced to hand some over. Jaebum jokingly threatened to shave Mark in his sleep for making the rent on his property so damn high. Things have been pretty wild but under control so far.

Bambam then feels the urgent need to pee and excuses himself. “Bring us some more of the dip.” Youngjae reminds him. Bambam nods and walks down the hallway. After doing his business, he walks back towards the kitchen. He passes by a frame, making him walks back towards it to see what photo could possibly be in display in this house. But what he sees isn’t a photo, nor is there anything in the frame. Instead, the frame is placed on a spot on the wall where it is visibly dented. Bambam stares close enough to know that it was caused by a punch. The frame has a strip of paper at the bottom that says, ‘ _ **Im Rage, Spring of '15**_ ’. He chuckles, wandering what prompted Jaebum to have done this. 

He sets the dip in the middle of the table and notices that Youngjae is slumped on the table and Jinyoung has absolutely no money left.  Bambam looks at Yugyeom and his friend shrugs. “A lot happened when you left. Jinyoung went bankrupt and Youngjae almost is.”

The game goes on as Jackson claps at the apartment he’s bought for his property and Jaebum groans at how little money he has left. Mark looks redder than ever but is going steady. The rest are either bankrupt or on the verge of it, but mostly just drunk and in need of a bed.

“Is this game night thing something you guys, uh, often do?” Bambam asks Jinyoung, not caring much about the game anymore.

“It’s more of a once a month thing, really. It’s usually with poker to kind of unwind things in the midst of stress and all ‘at.” Jinyoung answers, finishing his beer and putting it aside with the rest of his empty ones. “You should be thankful that we’re playing Monopoly drunk, because it’s usually more aggressive when we’re sober.”

“Is that why you have a punch on the wall framed?”

“No, that was...something else.” Jinyoung laughs to himself. “It was when we first moved in. Jaebum came a long way from those days, though. He’s much tamer now.”

Bambam looks at Jaebum who’s currenlty laughing out loud at how Jackson is spouting Chinese words at Mark, his cheeks tinted red. They then lock eyes, making Bambam suddenly nervous and wondering if he should look away. The stare down is interrupted when the board suddenly flies. It flips in the air, the little apartments and tokens flying everywhere as the sound of collective gasps fills the air. 

“I’m done. This is a stupid game.” Yugyeom announces. Bambam stares at him with wide eyes, surprised that his friend could be so daring as to flip the damn board in this house they were so humbly invited to. Judging by his flushed face, Bambam concludes that his friend is a light weight. Instead of scoldings being thrown, everyone at the table laughs at the gesture. The laughter increases when they see that a number of apartments have landed on Youngjae’s hair, looking like buildings in a black forest.

After deciding that they’ve had enough of mortgages and fake money, the boys gather at the couch, excluding Youngjae who Jaebum has responsibly tucked in bed. Jinyoung puts a Fast and Furious movie on and claps loudly when the title rolls in. Mark plays with his phone, probably drunk texting somebody. Jackson takes his phone away and says, “No, you’re not going to send a mass text to your investors’ club saying...” Jackson reads the text and sighs, “...saying ‘ _fuck you dweebs_ ’. You’re drunk, Mark.”

Mark acknowledges this and rests his head on Jackson’s shoulder, eyes fluttering shut. Jaebum comes back into the room and sits on the other side of Jackson, which is next to Bambam, making him wedge himself closer to Yugyeom. Jinyoung is on the floor in front of Yugyeom, seated between his legs. Bambam rests almost comfortably in his spot and tries to watch the movie. As he tries to catch up with the plot and what the hell Paul Walker is trying to do this time, he finds himself dozing off. He tries to fight it, but loses when the car chases starts.

Bambam wakes up in the TV room an hour later, finding that it’s dimly lit. He realizes that he’s on the floor with Yugyeom who’s sleeping with a blanket draped across the both of them. The TV is turned off and he turns to see Jackson sleeping in Jaebum’s arms like they weren’t just cursing each other during the game earlier. Mark and Jinyoung are nowhere to be seen. Bambam can’t find the energy to wake Yugyeom up to walk home, but he finds himself quite comfortable sleeping here. His head lands back on the pillow as he smiles to himself.

_I like this house. And the company._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update, I've only got the chance to write since the semester ended. anyways, hope this suffices for now! there'll be a new pov in the next chapter and a potential ship! take a guess ;)


	6. Caught Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A Jaebum Saturday: some work done and some feelings avoided, courtesy of Jackson Wang.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for the late update but I hope this jackbum update cheers yallz up! I like how this one turned out cos my homegirl contributed some ideas. enjoy xx

It is a Saturday. Jaebum knows it. He is pretty damn sure everyone else in this house knows it too. And yet, this soul named Park Jinyoung fails to understand the cardinal rule of Saturday mornings for college students. Jaebum tries to drown the sound of the vacuum with a pillow but when it is mixed with Jinyoung yelling at Youngjae to clear up his space, he decides that it just won't do. Knowing that his sleep is disrupted for good, Jaebum sits up at the edge of his bed and sighs. He stands up and grabs a towel, slinging it around his neck. He sees Jinyoung clearing out the filter in the vacuum when he walks out the room towards the toilet.

"It's a Saturday, Jinyoung-ah." Jaebum remarks. Jinyoung shrugs. "You decided it'd be a great time to do some cleaning on a Saturday morning?"

Rolling his eyes, Jinyoung says, "It's been two weeks since the start of the semester and the cleaning lady still isn't back from her 'summer' vacation. I've got to get this shit hole cleaned or else."

"Or else?"

"Or else no one will, you know that." Jinyoung groans. 

Jaebum smiles at his housemate and heads towards the toilet, clearly not interested in helping. He enters the toilet and does his usual business there, taking a little more time than usual since it's the weekend. The past two week as a senior year student has really opened his eyes as to how close he is to graduating. Tests are creeping already, not to mention the assignments as a film major piling up already. He slathers some shaving cream on his face and wonders what he should do today. He shaves his face meticulously and decides that he needs to work on his music first by going outside or some inspiring shit like that. He can brush up on his film studies in the library after that.

When he's back in his room, Jaebum browses through his wardrobe while he dries his hair with a towel. Yugyeom's voice a few days ago rings in his ears, _Black again, hyung? My Chemical Romance disbanded 3 years ago, you know that right?_ He keeps a mental note to give that boy a nougie the next time he sees him. Despite that, he grabs the red Adidas tracksuit he hasn't worn since freshman year. He ditches the bottom and pairs the top with a pair of black sweats instead, knowing what's best for him. He grabs a snapback and puts it on backwards to cover his now black hair. _Jaebum hyung you can try as many hair colors but you know you'll go back to black all the damn time_ , Youngjae said earlier this week when he bumps into Jaebum after his salon appointment. Jaebum shrugs and grabs the rings on his bedside table as well as some safety pins that he carefully puts on as earrings. He remembers the first time Jackson saw him put it on and the way his eyes widened. _JB...that is so hardcore_ , the blondie said. Jaebum laughs to himself at the image of Jackson with that shocked look on his face. He wonders if the boy would want to go out of this noisy house as well, knowing the blonde doesn't sleep through noise well unlike Youngjae. He walks over to Mark and Jackson's room, peeking inside only to see Mark's bed occupied but Jackson's bed empty. Mark lifts his head a little, evidently already awake but hiding in his blanket with his phone.

"Sup?" Mark greets, startling Jaebum a little. "Where are you going this early?"

"I was gonna go out to do some work because Jinyoung is going nuts outside it seems." Jaebum answers. He points at the empty bed and adds, "Where's Jackson?"

"He has fencing practice, remember? He was out by the crack of dawn." Mark replies, going back to staring at his phone screen. "Close your door on the way out."

Jaebum obeys him, closing the door as he leaves disappointed. _I do more work when I'm alone anyways_ , he tells himself. He picks up his Macbook and music notebooks on the table in the living room, stuffing them in his bag. He puts his headphone around his neck and slings his bag on his back. Jinyoung gives him a small wave as he leaves wearing his sneakers. He puts on the shades he took from the pocket of his bag and begins evaluating the places he could do his work at. _Let's go see how the courtyard looks like right now._ There are many of those scattered around campus, but his favorite is the one by the auditorium. As expected of the weekends and the surge of freshman who wants to get that authentic studying on the grass college experience, Jaebum finds his favorite spot taken. _Fine, let's go see if the one by the liberal arts buildings is less congested,_ Jaebum thinks, dragging his foot across the grass as he glares behind his shades at the bunch of girls sitting on his usual spot. The liberal arts buildings is quite a walk from where he is, so he finds himself looking around to find a nearer spot to settle down at. His eyes lands on the building to his right, a big windowed building that houses a lot of students even on Saturday mornings. _The rec center it is._

Even when he was an athlete, Jaebum rarely stepped foot in the gym because he played baseball and that required the field more. He's played basketball with Mark here once, but that's about it. When he walks in the gym that has clinking sounds coming from it, he discovers that the sound is coming from the fencing sabers being swung against each other. There are about 20 or so people in the gym and half of them are heading out, while the other half are still training or sitting down. Jaebum avoids getting trampled on and heads towards the bleachers to sit down. He feels odd to be the only one with no business being here, what with his dumb red tracksuit top and sweats. He sits near the corner and basks at the sight of the fencers by the side who are wiping the sweat off their faces and drinking. Their fit bodies injects some envy in him. Jaebum wishes he had kept on playing baseball. The only work out he does now is dancing, but the lack of restriction on his diet has caused him to earn a few inches on the waistline. While most of his friends have pointed it out, it was Jackson who really got concerned that he's not watching his health. _I don't mind that you're gaining weight because it makes you look better, but all this midnight snacking is so bad_ , the younger would say. Jaebum finds himself scoffing as he takes out his Macbook and music books. _Midnight snacking is life_. He looks up while he waits for his laptop to start, searching for Jackson who has oddly been on his mind since this morning. It's not that weird, seeing that ever since they got that house to live in he's been closer to Jackson that he is with the rest. Maybe it's the energy, maybe it's the vibe he gives, Jaebum doesn't know either. Ever since he left Kappa Delta Psi, he's been focused on his art and enjoying life as it is. Therefore, Jackson is the perfect person to do most of that with.

As he searches for a blonde head, his eyes darts on a fencer still training in the middle of the court. With the full white gear on, this man (they're all men here so this is safe to assume) glides across the mat with his saber piercing the air while his opponent skillfully avoids it. The man moves his feet so beautifully, Jaebum forgets about the work in hand to observe this new wonder he's discovered. Jaebum saw a ballet performance once last year, yet he finds this man who makes his steps with precision and grace to be more enchanting than any ballerinas he's seen. This man has toned thighs that helps him inch closer to his opponent at incredible speed making Jaebum think to himself, _so this is why Jackson goes on and on about how impressive his thighs are - it's a big deal in fencing_. The man's arms are just as impressive, waving his saber about like a music conductor at an opera house. Jaebum has his mouth slightly open and shades already perched on his head, watching with utmost attention and wondering if Jackson can introduce him to this man. Jaebum has never actually dated another man, but he thinks he might just reconsider that. 

"Jackson!" A voice shouts from the door of the gym. Jaebum squints his eyes to see who it is, and recognizes the guy to be Seo Kangjoon, a senior he shares some classes with. Jaebum is instantly reminded of his original intention to look for Jackson and starts looking around again. Stealing his attention once more, the mystery fencer earlier has stopped fencing after earning enough points and lifts his head gear. Jaebum finds himself on the edge of his seat, wondering who this man could be...

It's Jackson.

"Yeah?" The blonde shouts back, slowly walking towards Kangjoon. Jaebum stays glued to his seat, eyes wide open and mouth tightly shut. He closes his laptop and stuffs everything back in his bag in a rush. He can't afford to stay here any longer. He knows that once he sees Jackson in action again he'd probably regret even waking up this morning. He suddenly wishes he had just stayed in bed today. He slings the strap of his bag on one shoulder and sneakily runs out of the gym. _Fuck it, the library it is._

 

xxxxx

 

To say that the image of Jackson fencing has been on Jaebum's mind all day is an understatement. He was watching an old Italian movie for an assignment but all he could think of was Jackson taking his head gear off as his wet hair falls on his forehead. The way he smiled at the sight of Kangjoon... Jaebum shakes his head to rid off the thought. He closes his laptop on the table and sighs. He's been working on his assignments all day he forgot to keep track of the time. He thought lunch was just an hour ago, but it's almost time for dinner already. He puts his things back in the bag, feeling his eyes get tired. He leaves the library and sighs again at the sight of the rec center. 

He knows it's weird. He's known Jackson ever since the blonde had black hair and wore the same old MC Hammer pants everywhere, when the boy tried his best to be friends with Jaebum. He remembers overseeing Jackson when he was being initiated in Kappa Delta Psi, the boy eager to join the frat. He remembers Jackson being loud and embarrassing at one of Jaebum's baseball matches, cheering for his 'favorite hyung'. He remembers when Jackson dropped out of the frat with him, saying something about loyalty. Mark, Jinyoung, and Youngjae were with him as well through all of it, and yet the person he remembers vividly is Jackson. He feels guilty because Jinyoung has been his rock ever since middle school, but it can't be helped.

 _Everybody looks attractive when they're doing what they like_ , Jaebum reasons to himself, _Jackson just happens to look amazingly beautiful when he's fencing. Don't. Fall. For. Him._ He hates that the weirdest fact is this isn't the first time he's had to remind himself that.

"You're holding it wrong!" He hears a familiar voice exclaim. Jaebum turns to see Bambam and Yugyeom arguing over a camera. It's a DSLR and Yugyeom insists that he holds a certain way that makes Bambam pissed off for no absolute reason. 

Yugyeom spots Jaebum and shouts, "Jaebum hyung!"

Jaebum walks over towards them and smiles, putting an arm around Bambam. He asks, "What are you guys doing?"

"Bambam has reached a new level of self indulgence." Yugyeom remarks, smiling. 

Bambam rolls his eyes and retorts, "I'm not going to drop out of college to be a vlogger, idiot. I'm just trying to expand my creativity."

"By vlogging?" Jaebum asks.

"No! I'm just gonna record some college life videos, 's all." Bambam sighs. He puts the camera away in his bag and looks back at Jaebum. "Wanna grab dinner with us?"

Exhausted from all that walking and working, Jaebum smiles and shakes his head. The boys shrug and bid him farewell, walking away as they continue to argue. Jaebum chuckles at how adorable they are, reminding him of his freshman years. Jaebum walks straight towards home, looking forward to the bed. He opens the door and as he thinks of options for dinner, the person he sort of expected to avoid appears before him in fresh new clothes and almost dried hair.

"Jaebum! You've been out all day, huh?" Jackson greets him, his face imprinted with a few pillow marks. Jaebum nods and puts his bag down in his room. He turns to see Jackson following him and leaning by the door frame. "I've been asleep ever since practice ended and only ate bread for lunch. Wanna get dinner with me? It's a bit early than usual but I'm starving."

Looking at his bed, Jaebum sighs. "Sure." Jackson smiles and walks away to get ready. Jaebum takes his red tracksuit top off and puts a black tee on, hoping it wouldn't remind Jackson of the weirdo sitting in the gym earlier today. Jaebum then grabs his wallet and stops by the mirror, fixing his hair. _Oh my god, stop that_ , he reminds himself. He walks out and Jackson does as well, Mark's car keys in hand.

"J, can you drive? I'm still half asleep I think." Jackson laughs, rubbing his eyes. Jaebum grabs the car keys and avoids looking at Jackson's adorable post sleep face for too long. 

_Oh god, help me._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> some more jackbum coming up in the next chapter! this time maybe it's a jackson pov? or not. I'll see lmao. comments and kudos appreciated <3

**Author's Note:**

> I'm on tumblr at official-kim-hanbin.tumblr.com and on twitter at jackbumologist if you wanna spazz w me about got7 or wtvr rly


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